Labour retains control of Sunderland City Council after winning 13 seats.

The council has so far declared 18 out of the 25 seats up for election, including two gains for Labour and one for the Liberal Democrats.

Labour went into the election with control of the council and now has enough seats to retain its majority.

Labour's shadow education secretary said she was "confident" the party had made progress in key battleground areas during the local elections.

Bridget Phillipson told BBC's Newsnight that Labour would be unlikely to get into Downing Street at the next general election without a double-digit swing in the party's favour in the local elections.

Swindon, Darlington, Hartlepool, Telford and Gravesham were areas where Labour is looking to make gains, Ms Phillipson said.

"What we're clear about is that we've run a really positive, a really strong campaign and what we're looking for is those areas, those key battleground areas where we need to make progress ahead of the next general election," she said.

"That is what matters most to us, more than those kinds of numbers around seats or some of that discussion around ... leads. It is about those key areas that we want to be making gains ahead of the general election, those key parliamentary seats."

Ms Phillipson said Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had "turned things around" since the 2019 general election, adding: "I think we will see a set of results coming out of these local elections that will demonstrate we are on the right path."

Labour has gained a seat in Sunderland, preliminary results suggest. 

Catherine Hunter won a seat in the city's St Anne's ward, unseating Conservative Pam Mann.

Labour went into the election looking to consolidate its control of the council, where it held 43 out of 75 seats.

The local elections have marked a "dark day for British democracy", campaigners have said as they claimed thousands of people could not cast a vote on Thursday. 

Electoral Commission acknowledged some people were "regrettably" unable to cast their ballot as a result of the voter ID requirement.

Shortly after the polls closed, a spokesperson for the Commission said that "overall, the elections were well run" but "the ID requirement posed a greater challenge for some groups in society, and that some people were regrettably unable to vote today as a result".

Tom Brake of Unlock Democracy, who is leading a coalition of groups including the Electoral Reform Society, Fair Vote UK and open Britain against the imposition of Voter ID, said: "Today has been a dark day for British democracy. Reports from all over the country confirm our very worst fears of the impact of the disastrous policy which has been made worse by the shambolic way it has been introduced.

"One voter turned away is one too many, but early estimates point to many thousands of people being turned away and denied their right to vote."

The new requirement to show identification at the ballot box means voters were turned away on Thursday. 

James Toft, 41, who was unable to vote in Chesterfield as he had forgotten his photo ID, described the requirement as "silly".

Mr Toft believes the new rules could be detrimental to people voting, telling the PA news agency: "They'll take a look at what you need to do and just not bother voting, especially the younger ones, what about the less well off who can't afford a passport or other forms (of identification)?"

Meanwhile, Gillian Long, 42, said ID requirements are "a load of rubbish" after she was stopped from voting by an administration error between her ID and the registration system in East Riding, Yorkshire.

Ms Long told PA: "Luckily I was quite determined to vote, so I decided to question it. I called my other half to warn him before he goes to vote this evening that our address is wrong, and he said he's not going to bother voting."

She added: "If you want people to vote, you should make it as easy as possible, and they've added a barrier."